Catholic Bishops in DR Congo Encourage “strong sense of Eucharistic worship, devotion”

“We encourage all the faithful to live the Eucharist as the foundation of social and political commitment. Everyone who sincerely participates in the Eucharist must become broken bread for others and must commit themselves to a more just and fraternal world,” they say.

From the Holy Eucharist, the Catholic Bishops say, “comes the courage to denounce and fight every form of social injustice for a better world.”

They also urge consecrated persons in the country “to draw from the Eucharist the strength of love they need for their witness. For the Eucharist is the source and summit of their life and commitment in the Church and in society.”

In their statement titled, “Eucharist and Family, They Were Still Listening to the Word of God and Breaking Bread”, Catholic Bishops in DRC also call for the respect of the institution of marriage and the embracing of family values.

They go on to caution the Congolese people against “foreign ideologies” that negatively affect family and marriage institutions.

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“In the name of fidelity to our faith and to our authentic African culture, we launch a vibrant appeal to all members of our Church-Family of God in DR Congo to resist foreign ideologies tending to distort the splendor and beauty of the institution of marriage and the family,” CENCO members say.

They implore, “May the Christian family model itself on the Eucharist, allow itself to be nourished by it, draw from it all the energies it needs, and allow itself to be transformed by it.”

“Let parish priests encourage and accompany family ministry groups, and carefully organize appropriate catechesis on the sacramentals,” the Catholic Church leaders say and underscore the need to intensify Catechesis on the Eucharist and the family.

As a way of strengthening families, they say, “we encourage all Christian families to participate together in Eucharistic celebrations, especially on Sundays, as a family, to pass on the faith to their children and to be a true ‘domestic Church’”.

CENCO members also call upon Ministers of the Sacraments, especially those who confer the Sacraments of marriage and Eucharist, “to celebrate them with dignity and according to the rules required by the Holy Church.”